#Side Story 2 – 03
The gathering ended inconclusively. Seo-hee, noticing how uncomfortable I was, decided to wrap things up. She said, “Don’t worry about it too much. Let’s just maintain a good relationship.” But how could I not worry?
The open-minded attitude of kids these days, saying “Let’s remain friends” even after being rejected, was something I could never keep up with.
I’m not sure how I got home. Although the bus ride from the meeting place to home usually takes only about 15 minutes, it felt like an eternity to me.
This was because I was debating whether or not to tell hyung about it. It wasn’t a blind date I had wanted, and I only realized it later. In a way, I was also a victim.
I had told hyung I was going out with friends, so I could have let it pass as if nothing had happened. It might have been better to keep it to myself rather than causing unnecessary trouble by telling the truth.
However, my conscience hurt too much to just let it go. Even though it was unintentional, it had turned into a set-up meeting. Was it okay to hide something like this?
After much deliberation while trudging from the bus stop, I decided to tell hyung the truth.
What if Saheon hyung had experienced the same thing but kept it to himself because he was worried about my reaction? How would I feel if I found out about it later? I thought I might feel an even greater sense of betrayal and disappointment over something I could have understood if he had told me right away.
I would casually mention that this and that happened. Apologize, say I’ll double-check if it’s a blind date next time, and hyung probably wouldn’t scold me much…?
With such a heavy heart, I returned home and immediately faced my beloved partner. Hyung, dressed in comfortable home wear, was waiting at the entrance, having quickly come out at the sound of me entering the door code.
“You’re back?”
Seeing him welcome me innocently like a dog guarding the house, I bit my lip as if about to cry. My conscience hurt so much. I wanted to quickly confess and hear Saheon hyung’s reaction, whether it was scolding or reprimanding.
I strode towards hyung and hugged him tightly. As I inhaled deeply his comfortable and familiar scent to find peace of mind, Saheon hyung chuckled softly and stroked my hair.
“What’s wrong? Did you miss me that much?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Though unintended, my voice was a bit choked up. As I announced my confession without even taking off my shoes, Saheon hyung’s hand gently gripping my hair flinched.
“Did something happen?”
I hugged hyung tighter, shook my head, and then nodded. Something had happened, after all. Saheon hyung let out an incredulous laugh.
“So nothing happened, but something did?”
“…Well, you see… I, I… It wasn’t something I wanted to do…”
I started explaining what had happened today, stumbling over my words. How I went out because someone I knew asked me to hang out. There was a girl I had never met before. I thought we were just all hanging out together, but it turned out to be a blind date, and they set me up without saying anything… I left as soon as I realized, but even though it wasn’t intentional, I felt so sorry to hyung…
After rambling incoherently, I closed my mouth tightly. I was out of breath from talking frantically with my face buried in Saheon hyung’s chest. When I peeked up, wanting to see Saheon hyung who had fallen silent, I faced hyung trying hard to suppress his laughter.
Why is he laughing? Seeing hyung pretending to be stern while forcibly holding back his laughter, my brows furrowed, but since I was the one who had done wrong, I didn’t say anything. Saheon hyung cleared his throat and mumbled, pretending to be gloomy.
“So you went on a blind date, huh.”
“It wasn’t a blind date!”
“Wow. I even waited for you during your military service… They say if you’re too devoted, you become like an old shoe…”
“No! It’s not like that!”
“After being a devoted military girlfriend in my thirties… My young and cute boyfriend goes out to meet girls…”
“No! You know you’re the only one for me!”
“I know.”
“…You know?”
Saheon hyung smiled mischievously. His grin was clearly playful to anyone who saw it. I suddenly felt sulky, but at the same time, relieved. As I had expected, Saheon hyung seemed unbothered after hearing the story.
“That friend of yours is not nice. Inviting you to hang out and then setting you up with a girl.”
“…Yeah.”
“Is that why you worried alone and then told me as soon as you saw me?”
“…Yeah…”
Saheon hyung chuckled at my honest answers. His laughter indicated that this incident was nothing more than amusing to him.
While I was worrying alone, it seemed like a very serious matter, but seeing hyung take it so casually made it feel like it really wasn’t a big deal. It was just a coincidental overlap of circumstances that could lead to misunderstanding.
“I should give an award for good behavior to little Cheongmyeong who told the truth without lying.”
“Well, I did tell the truth, but I’m not a little…”
“We should kiss, shouldn’t we?”
While the first part was correct, the latter part wasn’t at all, so as I was buffering, Saheon hyung boldly demanded a kiss.
I raised my head while still hugging hyung. Since I was still wearing my shoes, I was in the entrance, and because of the threshold, I had to stand slightly on my tiptoes to kiss hyung, who seemed even taller.
Our lips met with a light ‘chu’. It was a simple and soft contact where we exchanged each other’s warmth. Saheon hyung playfully furrowed his brow.
“Beer smell.”
“I only had one drink. I said I was taking herbal medicine…”
I confessed even what hyung hadn’t asked about. Saheon hyung burst into laughter. After praising me with “You did well,” Saheon hyung muttered about giving me a reward and naturally led me to the bedroom to carry out what was no different from when he had muttered about punishment earlier.
I thought that would be the end of it.
***
“Huh…”
The morning after spending the night before a holiday, with the weekend and the next day off. I woke up late and checked my phone out of habit, only to let out a gasp that made my lungs shrink when I saw an unfamiliar notification.
Seo-hee has requested to follow you!
Seo-hee has tagged Lee Cheongmyeong (@clearskylee)!
Seo-hee has mentioned Lee Cheongmyeong (@clearskylee)!
It was an unfamiliar notification to me. I had joined SNS when I entered university, but it was an account for external relations that I hadn’t even set a background picture for, leaving it at the default. Except for middle and high school friends, university classmates, Saheon hyung, and Chaehun hyung, I hardly had any mutual follows.
I nearly fainted in shock when the person who had suddenly attacked me with a blind date yesterday mentioned me on this account that I had almost forgotten about, only occasionally accessing it to check photos Saheon hyung posted on Instagram.
Completely awake from the shock right after waking up, I clutched my pounding chest area and tapped on the notification.
A fun day with people I like♥ @junsu_sunbae @soyeon_unni Cheongmyeong oppa @clearskylee Let’s hang out again next time! 🙂
The post already had hundreds of likes. I squinted as I checked the photo and the written text. Before moving to the second round, she had taken a selfie saying the lighting was good, and that photo along with pictures of delicious-looking food were uploaded.
As I looked at my awkwardly smiling face in the photo, I fell into contemplation for a moment. Just yesterday, I had explained to Saheon hyung that I had accidentally gone on a blind date. But the very next day, a photo taken together was uploaded.
Moreover, she even sent a follow request! If I accepted the Instagram follow, hyung would surely be upset. Of course, I would feel strange and awkward about it too.
My brain, having just woken up, couldn’t come up with a good solution for what to do. After confusedly staring at the post, I decided to simply ignore it altogether.
“…I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see anything. Yeah, I didn’t see it…”
Muttering to myself words that no one would hear, I hurriedly left the page. Even if directly asked, which probably wouldn’t happen, I could just say I had only created an account but didn’t use it, so I had deleted the app itself.
My heart racing from the morning, I took a deep breath. I couldn’t understand the boldness of someone who had just yesterday brazenly asked “How about someone like me?” and now went as far as tagging me on Instagram.
